Judge Orders Lohan Back to Rehab

Judge: "You're staying there past the New Year -- there's a reason for that"

A judge Friday ordered that actress Lindsay Lohan must return to a drug rehab program.

Lohan was in court for a formal hearing to determine if she violated her probation in a pair of driving under the influence cases by failing a court-ordered drug test last month.

Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Elden Fox said he will allow the actress to remain in treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic, and that if she does not test positive for drugs or alcohol at the time of her next court hearing Feb. 25, the judge would convert her sentence to unsupervised probation.

Prosecutors said that if she violates her probation again, she could face 180 days in jail.

"I'm not going to be manipulated," Fox said. "You are an addict. I think you have to change your lifestyle."

He said that if she does not remain free of drugs and alcohol she would "destroy what is a very lucrative career and profession."

"You're staying there past the New Year -- there's a reason for that," he said, as Lohan smiled and the courtroom erupted in laughter.

Lohan's probation report states she told an officer last week that she hoped to be released from the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, Calif. after one month and cited financial worries. She told the officer that "continued inpatient treatment would be a hardship financially, and damaging to her career," according to the report.

The 20-acre addiction treatment hospital is not cheap -- three months of inpatient treatment can cost nearly $50,000, according to its website.

Lohan cited problems with her clothing line and an upcoming role as porn star Linda Lovelace in a biopic as reasons for wanting to get out, the report stated.

The movie, however, will wait for Lohan.
 
"Inferno" writer-director Matthew Wilder says Lohan's rehab won't interfere with role and that production was already set to begin in mid-January.

"It looks good and we are not replacing (her)," he said Friday.

Lohan arrived in court Friday with her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a black pantsuit and white blouse. She was accompanied by her mother, Dina, and a Betty Ford counselor.

The judge ordered the removal of Lohan's SCRAM bracelet -- an alcohol monitoring device -- while she's at the clinic.

It was Fox who initially ordered Lohan jailed during a hearing in September, but she was released from jail hours later after Patricia Schnegg, the Los Angeles Superior Court's assistant supervising judge of criminal, ruled that Lohan should be allowed to post $300,000 bail. Lohan has been at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage since then.

At about 8 a.m., what appeared to be Lohan's black Cadillac SUV arrived at the Beverly Hills Courthouse, but Lohan got out of a gray minivan that was part of the mini-motorcade

The courtroom has become a familiar setting for the "Mean Girls" star. She first ran afoul of the law on May 26, 2007, when she drove a Mercedes-Benz into a hedge along Sunset Boulevard. Two months later she was arrested again in Santa Monica on suspicion of DUI and possession of cocaine.

She agreed to plead no contest and was sentenced to a day in jail and three years probation. Because of overcrowded jails and the county's early release policy, she spent 84 minutes at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood before being released.

Her probation was extended by a year for not completing alcohol-education classes on schedule.

In July, she missing a required probation hearing before Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel, saying her passport was stolen while she was at the Cannes Film Festival, and the judge sentenced her to 90 days in jail. She spent 13 days behind bars before being released again.

As part of her sentence, she was ordered to spend 90 days in an inpatient addiction treatment program. She was sent to UCLA's neuropsychiatric hospital for evaluation, held for about three weeks and released Aug. 24.

She later failed the drug test.

"This was certainly a setback for me, but I am taking responsibility for my actions and I'm prepared to face the consequences," she wrote on Twitter.

The parade of legal troubles has put the actress' career on hold. She was set to promote her appearance in "Machete," but spent that time in jail and rehab.

The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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